There are a total of 32 supercentenarians on the list, with 25 females and 7 males.Supercentenarians with initials given instead of a full name are validated by the International Database on Longevity.(m) = maleitalics = disputed case

1. Carrie C. White, born 18 November 1874, age 115 years, 43 days2. Jeanne Calment, born 21 February 1875, age 114 years, 313 days3. Lucy Hannah, born 16 July 1875, age 114 years, 168 days4. Mitsu Fujisawa, born 9 April 1876, age 113 years, 266 days5. Charlotte Hughes, born 1 August 1877, age 112 years, 152 days6. John Evans (m), born 19 August 1877, age 112 years, 134 days7. Ettie Mae Greene, born 8 September 1877, age 112 years, 114 days8. Rose Hart, born 20 March 1878, age 111 years, 286 days9. Waka Shirahama, born 23 March 1878, age 111 years, 283 days10. Jan Machiel Reyskens (m), born 11 May 1878, age 111 years, 234 days11. Joséphine Choquet, born 6 June 1878, age 111 years, 208 days12. Claire Dunning, born 20 August 1878, age 111 years, 133 days13. Alice Sjöquist, born 25 October 1878, age 111 years, 67 days14. Margaret Skeete, born 27 October 1878, age 111 years, 65 days15. Odie Matthews, born 28 December 1878, age 111 years, 3 days16. Tane Ikai, born 18 January 1879, age 110 years, 347 days17. Rosa Ann Comfort, born 21 January 1879, age 110 years, 344 days18. Eiju Tsuru (m), born 4 February 1879, age 110 years, 330 days19. Dollie Bushey, born 17 February 1879, age 110 years, 317 days20. Edith Land, born 20 February 1879, age 110 years, 314 days21. Mathilde Gauchou, born 19 March 1879, age 110 years, 287 days22. Katherine Aiken, born 24 March 1879, age 110 years, 282 days23. A.L.M. (m), born 11 April 1879, age 110 years, 264 days24. Galo Leoz (m), born 22 April 1879, age 110 years, 253 days25. Lottie Lewis, born 4 May 1879, age 110 years, 241 days26. Laura Dunlap, born 16 July 1879, age 110 years, 168 days27. Lillian Ross, born 24 August 1879, age 110 years, 129 days28. Cora Humphrey, born 4 September 1879, age 110 years, 118 days29. Henri Pérignon (m), born 14 October 1879, age 110 years, 78 days30. James Wiggins (m), born 15 October 1879, age 110 years, 77 days31. Sadie Mayer, born 7 November 1879, age 110 years, 54 days32. Laura Scales, born 13 November 1879, age 110 years, 48 days

There are a total of 15 supercentenarians on the list, with 14 females and one male.(m) = maleitalics = disputed case

1. Mathew Beard (m), born 9 July 1870, age 114 years, 175 days2. Ollie Bay, born 11 November 1872, age 112 years, 50 days3. Mamie Eva Keith, born 22 March 1873, age 111 years, 284 days4. Mary McKinney, born 30 May 1873, age 111 years, 215 days5. Anna Eliza Williams, born 2 June 1873, age 111 years, 212 days6. Florence Knapp, born 10 October 1873, age 111 years, 82 days7. Eugénie Roux, born 24 January 1874, age 110 years, 342 days8. Bessie Bettencourt, born 12 February 1874, age 110 years, 323 days9. Louise Bruss, born 30 May 1874, age 110 years, 215 days10. Matilda Elsbury, born 28 September 1874, age 110 years, 94 days11. Bertha Webber, born 24 October 1874, age 110 years, 68 days12. Wilhelmine Sande, born 24 October 1874, age 110 years, 68 days13. Estella Foster, born 25 October 1874, age 110 years, 67 days14. Carrie C. White, born 18 November 1874, age 110 years, 43 days15. Caroline Mockridge, born 11 December 1874, age 110 years, 20 days

The above screenshot from Japanese television shows Chiyono Hasegawa of Saga, Japan, on her 115th birthday on 20 November 2011. She is only the 24th validated and undisputed person in history to reach age 115.

Hasegawa was born on 20 November 1896, and currently ranks as the second-oldest living person in the world, behind Besse Cooper of Georgia, United States, who was born on 26 August 1896. Her 115th birthday marks the first time in almost three years that there have been two living validated 115-year-olds together; the last day this statement held true was 26 November 2008, when Edna Parker of Indiana, United States, died as the world's oldest person at the age of 115 years, 220 days. At the time, Portuguese supercentenarian Maria de Jesus was also 115, and succeeded Parker as the world's oldest person until her own death on 2 January 2009.

Hasegawa became Japan's oldest person upon the death of Kama Chinen of Okinawa on 2 May 2010, aged 113 years, 163 days. Chinen died aged 114 years 357 days old; she had been born on 10 May 1895. Hasegawa is currently the second-oldest identified and undisputed person ever from Japan, behind only Tane Ikai, who died on 12 July 1995 aged 116 years 175 days; she had been born on 18 January 1879, thus being the oldest Japanese supercentenarian born after the implementation of the koseki registration system in Japan in 1872.Interestingly, Hasegawa has been recognised as the world's second-oldest person twice; the first time was on 14 April 2011, upon the death of Walter Breuning, born 21 September 1896. She was moved back to third place on 18 May 2011, with the validation of Maria Gomes Valentim of Brazil, born 9 July 1896, as the world's oldest person. (It should be noted that the 2012 Guinness World Records edition states Maria Gomes Valentim as having been recognised on 13 May 2011.) Valentim's death on 21 June the same year moved her back to second place, a position she has held since.Hasegawa's birthday also marks the first time in close to seventeen years that a known and undisputed Japanese person has celebrated a 115th birthday; the last time this happened was on 18 January 1994, when Tane Ikai turned 115.The second-oldest living Japanese at present is a 114-year-old man named Jiroemon Kimura, who currently lives in Kyoto, Japan. Trailing him are Misawo Okawa of Osaka and Kame Nakamura of Okinawa, born on 5 and 8 March 1898 respectively.Hasegawa is also the oldest ever Asian to see three centuries; the oldest all-time to live in three centuries was Maria Capovilla (14 September 1889 - 27 August 2006), who died aged 116 years, 347 days.It is stated that as of her 115th birthday, Hasegawa's health had deteriorated from age 114 and she was now living in a care facility. She, however, is still in good mental and physical health.

Update: Chiyono Hasegawa passed away today (2 December 2011) at age 115 years, 12 days. She was the second-oldest living person in the world at the time of her death.

There are a total of 108 supercentenarians on the list, with 97 females and 11 males.(m) = male

1. Eva Morris, born 8 November 1885, age 114 years, 53 days2. Myrtle Dorsey, born 22 November 1885, age 114 years, 39 days3. Marie Bremont, born 25 April 1886, age 113 years, 250 days4. Luce Maced, born 2 May 1886, age 113 years, 243 days5. Maude Farris-Luse, born 21 January 1887, age 112 years, 344 days6. Clara Huhn, born 28 January 1887, age 112 years, 337 days7. Mary Anna Boone, born 10 February 1887, age 112 years, 324 days8. Agatha Mitchell, born 26 March 1887, age 112 years, 280 days9. Mary Randall, born 1 April 1887, age 112 years, 274 days10. Nelle Hunt, born 28 July 1887, age 112 years, 156 days11. Maggie Murdock, born 18 August 1887, age 112 years, 135 days12. Lempi Rothovius, born 2 October 1887, age 112 years, 90 days13. Amy Hulmes, born 5 October 1887, age 112 years, 87 days14. Carrie Hardrick, born 6 November 1887, age 112 years, 55 days15. Grace Clawson, born 15 November 1887, age 112 years, 46 days16. Catharina van Dam-Groeneveld, born 20 November 1887, age 112 years, 41 days17. Christina Cock, born 25 December 1887, age 112 years, 6 days18. Jessie Mae Kettering, born 17 January 1888, age 111 years, 348 days19. Adelina Domingues, born 19 February 1888, age 111 years, 315 days20. Beatrice Mears, born 4 March 1888, age 111 years, 302 days 21. Delcia Sockwell, born 7 March 1888, age 111 years, 299 days22. Louise Fleury-Mallet, born 8 March 1888, age 111 years, 298 days23. Zelda McCague, born 28 March 1888, age 111 years, 278 days24. Lillie Neff, born 9 May 1888, age 111 years, 236 days25. Mie Ishiguro, born 2 June 1888, age 111 years, 212 days26. Molly Yeomans, born 1 July 1888, age 111 years, 183 days27. Flossie Eckard, born 25 July 1888, age 111 years, 159 days28. Elizabeth Jones, born 20 August 1888, age 111 years, 133 days29. Frances Hale, born 25 August 1888, age 111 years, 132 days30. Jennie Houck, born 30 August 1888, age 111 years, 123 days31. John Painter (m), born 20 September 1888, age 111 years, 102 days32. Berna Dupertuis, born 21 September 1888, age 111 years, 101 days33. Brigida Dearroyo, born 7 October 1888, age 111 years, 85 days34. Germaine Haye, born 10 October 1888, age 111 years, 82 days35. Sadayoshi Tanabe (m), born 20 October 1888, age 111 years, 72 days36. Ella Gantt, born 30 November 1888, age 111 years, 31 days37. Ella Miller, born 6 December 1888, age 111 years, 25 days38. Mary Rodgers, born 9 December 1888, age 111 years, 22 days39. Susana Lynn, born 9 December 1888, age 111 years, 22 days40. Stella Correll, born 23 December 1888, age 111 years, 8 days41. Delvina Dahleimer, born 31 December 1888, age 111 years, 0 days42. Melvina Richardson, born 11 January 1889, age 110 years, 354 days43. Mae Harrington, born 20 January 1889, age 110 years, 345 days44. Antonio Todde (m), born 22 January 1889, age 110 years, 343 days45. Mary Parr, born 29 January 1889, age 110 years, 336 days46. Gertrude Wilson, born 6 February 1889, age 110 years, 328 days47. Anna Balsiger, born 11 February 1889, age 110 years, 323 days48. Maria Laqua, born 12 February 1889, age 110 years, 322 days49. Matsuno Oikawa, born 20 February 1889, age 110 years, 314 days50. Mamie Smith, born 1 March 1889, age 110 years, 305 days51. Emma Castilla Bowen, born 2 March 1889, age 110 years, 304 days52. Jane Redpath, born 3 March 1889, age 110 years, 303 days53. Yukichi Chuganji (m), born 23 March 1889, age 110 years, 283 days54. Elizabeth Seube, born 8 April 1889, age 110 years, 267 days55. Marie-Laure Nadon, born 12 April 1889, age 110 years, 263 days56. Karen Jespersen, born 5 May 1889, age 110 years, 240 days57. Frank Ahmann (m), born 11 May 1889, age 110 years, 234 days58. Mitoyo Kawate, born 15 May 1889, age 110 years, 230 days59. Jessie Penn, born 18 May 1889, age 110 years, 227 days60. Martha Pellow, born 18 May 1889, age 110 years, 227 days61. Harriet Trudgen, born 22 May 1889, age 110 years, 223 days62. Marie Combeleran, born 8 June 1889, age 110 years, 206 days63. Mary Christian, born 12 June 1889, age 110 years, 202 days64. John Ingram McMorran (m), born 19 June 1889, age 110 years, 195 days65. Edward Bernard (m), born 22 June 1889, age 110 years, 192 days66. Elsa Moberg, born 30 June 1889, age 110 years, 184 days67. Benjamin Holcomb (m), born 3 July 1889, age 110 years, 181 days68. Elena Slough, born 8 July 1889, age 110 years, 176 days69. Mabel Bauman, born 22 July 1889, age 110 years, 162 days70. Anne-Marie Hemery, born 25 July 1889, age 110 years, 159 days71. Aki Ichikawa, born 10 August 1889, age 110 years, 143 days72. Cecile Ann Cox, born 30 August 1889, age 110 years, 123 days73. Ramona Trindad Iglesias-Jordan, born 31 August 1889, age 110 years, 122 days74. Maria Esperanza Onieva, born 1 September 1889, age 110 years, 121 days75. Edna Wilke, born 3 September 1889, age 110 years, 119 days76. Marie-Rose Theriault, born 8 September 1889, age 110 years, 114 days77. Nancy Ray, born 11 September 1889, age 110 years, 111 days78. Gozei Taba, born 12 September 1889, age 110 years, 110 days79. Martha Williams, born 12 September 1889, age 110 years, 110 days80. Nellie Bradley, born 12 September 1889, age 110 years, 110 days81. Maria Capovilla, born 14 September 1889, age 110 years, 108 days82. Cora Meek, born 15 September 1889, age 110 years, 107 days83. Alma Bruss, born 17 September 1889, age 110 years, 105 days84. Blanche Marie Grosdidier, born 3 October 1889, age 110 years, 89 days85. Arthur Carter (m), born 8 October 1889, age 110 years, 87 days86. Anna Rust, born 11 October 1889, age 110 years, 81 days87. Abbie Stewart, born 13 October 1889, age 110 years, 79 days88. Clotilde Roy, born 23 October 1889, age 110 years, 69 days89. Nellie Cross, born 28 October 1889, age 110 years, 64 days90. Yaeno Koga, born 4 November 1889, age 110 years, 57 days91. Meta Berndt, born 9 November 1889, age 110 years, 52 days92. Emma Yager, born 12 November 1889, age 110 years, 49 days93. Mary Waskom, born 15 November 1889, age 110 years, 46 days94. Charlotte Benkner, born 16 November 1889, age 110 years, 45 days95. Kamado Koja, born 17 November 1889, age 110 years, 44 days96. Edith Archer, born 25 November 1889, age 110 years, 36 days97. Martha Brady, born 28 November 1889, age 110 years, 33 days98. Teresa Fumarola, born 2 December 1889, age 110 years, 29 days99. Mollie Lollis, born 3 December 1889, age 110 years, 28 days100. Concetta Ramundo-Urso, born 8 December 1889, age 110 years, 23 days101. Hazel Luther, born 11 December 1889, age 110 years, 20 days102. Joan Riudavets (m), born 15 December 1889, age 110 years, 16 days103. Karen Svisdal, born 16 December 1889, age 110 years, 15 days104. Geneva McNicholl, born 20 December 1889, age 110 years, 11 days105. Natalina Simoncini-Pistolesi, born 25 December 1889, age 110 years, 6 days106. Vera Zeilman, born 27 December 1889, age 110 years, 4 days107. Chikae Nakamura (m), born 31 December 1889, age 110 years, 0 days108. Ito Konno Kinase, born 31 December 1889, age 110 years, 0 days

While many of these types of UFO videos can often be easily written off, the emergence of two separate recordings of the same event could give you pause.

Even more incredible is just how similar they seem. Both videos show a group of three white discs floating over the city, namely over the BBC building and Tower Bridge.

Both were taken late last week, and in one of the videos you can see at least a few people looking up at the objects, adding some credibility to the cameraman.

Whether or not there's a better explanation is a matter of opinion at this point.

Last October, many New Yorkers were astonished to witness several alleged UFOs maneuvering in the sky above the Chelsea section of Manhattan - in the middle of the afternoon.

While the FAA received many reports about the strange objects and radar returns couldn’t explain the UFOs away, it turned out that they may have simply been a bunch of balloons that had been intended for a party north of the city. The balloons reportedly got away from the party, and were carried along by air currents that eventually brought them to the Big Apple.

Could this also explain the London UFOs? Or is it a Photoshop hoax depicting alien-type vehicles in the sky? Tell me what you think about UFOs.

Mildred "Chrissie" Martenstein, centre, born Mildred Stelling on 9 June 1897, was a supercentenarian from California, United States.

She was notable for being one of the last survivors of the famous San Francisco earthquake on 18 April 1906. Then aged eight, she described the earthquake as "a big shock and a great deal of misery". Martenstein also stated that in the aftermath of the quake, "all the windows and doors and walls all rattled. My mother had to do all the cooking on the street."

She apparently did not like her first name, and was known best as Chrissie.

Ten years after the quake, Martenstein graduated from a school to which she would later provide support all her life. She later married a Ted Millstein, but did not have any children with him. Together, they would spend the entirety of their lives in twentieth-century San Francisco.

Martenstein was a private person, and as such, not much was known about her life prior to her move into a retirement home, though she was said to have worked as a receptionist. Even there, Martenstein was a well-known resident there, mainly for her charm. Reports said she would dress impeccably, matching her jewellery with her clothes. When mayor Gavin Newsom asked her the reason for her long life, her response was "Mr. Mayor, I have a martini every evening at 5".

Martenstein died as the 54th-oldest living person on 18 April 2008, aged 110 years, 314 days. Quite coincidentally, she died on the 102th anniversary of the quake; she had taken ill shortly before a remembrance ceremony for the quake.

Misawo Okawa, seen above in a photograph from Japanese television, is a Japanese supercentenarian who was born on 5 March 1898. At 113 years, 265 days, she is currently the seventh-oldest validated living person and the third-oldest living Japanese. However, an anonymous woman born between 1 October and 31 December 1897, also from Japan, would displace her to official eighth-oldest if she is named and identified.Misawo Okawa was not revealed by Japanese authorities until September 2011, since they tend to report just the oldest living woman and man in each prefecture. Okawa lives in Osaka prefecture, where Shige Hirooka (16 January 1897 - 29 March 2011) also lived. Hirooka's death in March meant that Okawa was now left as the oldest woman in Osaka, and had to be reported as such.Okawa's revelation came at around the same time as the relegation of Toshi Horiya (8 November 1897 - fl. 14 September 2010) to limbo status.Okawa is currently the 101st oldest woman ever and the 109th oldest person ever, one day ahead of Beatrice Farve of the United States (30 April 1895 - 19 January 2009), who died at age 113 years, 264 days as the second-oldest living person, then behind Gertrude Baines of California.

The sky is a clear blue bowl that you look at through the haze of a smoky dive bar. The wind picked up. Finally. It kicks the heat around and beats it down to size through the compounds and under the shade. A lot of the trees are shedding. Teak leaves crumple and turn into brown sandpaper sheets. Neem leaves cascade into yellow showers that swirl in the gusts. Mango trees say "f*** you" to it all as they get ready to bloom-- their leaves staying a stubborn deep green. Bayobobs suddenly look like naked giants bearing pendulous green fruits. The landscape suddenly develops features close up but devolves into a brown blur in the distance as the grass and undergrowth dies. Vistas open up along the roads where there used to be green and brown tunnels. The dust takes on a life of its own; its this red-brown demon that works its way into the core of your life on the road. When you get home, its the grey gremlin that greets you at the door. Cotton fields vomit white and sorgham stalks bend low. Togolese wake up and wear long sleeves in the mornings. Its harmattan.

At least in the north. I just got back from Lome where I went to the swear-in festivities for the 2011 NRM/GEE stage and said goodbye to a lot of the Volunteers that they are replacing, like Karen. Before that, I went up to Dapaong to attend my stage's 1 year party. Only about half of us made it up there, but it was still a lot of fun. The northern most region of the country is beautiful. It was the first time I'd been up there.

It was a bittersweet week. Seeing people and meeting new Volunteers is always exciting, but its sad to see people leave, especially the ones who have formed an integral part of the first year of service. Chez Karen/Manoba is now chez Bryanna. Suddenly, if I have a question about something, there is no 'older' Volunteer to ask-- instead there are 'younger' Volunteers who might expect me to have all the answers. A paradigm switch in a week.

It was a fun week, but I am glad to be home. I like Lome-- I ate expensive (and delicious) seafood twice, Indian and pizza once each. I got a mint milkshake! And I enjoyed air conditioning at the Peace Bureau. But I hate the humidity and the dirt-- most of the streets are sand, so walking anywhere can be a hassle-- and dealing with expensive taxi drivers, etc. I was really glad to wake up on the bush taxi ride north and see the green of the south turning brown.

I just spent 2 days on motos touring the Bassar prefecture. We are starting a big pump replacement project that will, hopefully, replace 20 or so broken pumps in west Kara. More details to come on that.

I´m sure you have thought about it more than once, well, this is your chance to share it with us. Write more than 200 words about it, and, you don´t have to be sincere ;)Below is the same song but just the lyrics:

the other day i reached a new high, or low depending on your perspective, in my PC service. I didn't have any vash qui ri (a cheese-ish substance) or tabasco sauce-- the combination tastes sort of like how I image chedder cheese-- so i made myself a mayonnaise and chili sauce sandwich. It was edible.

i reached another point yesterday. i was in Dapaong, in northern togo, for a Volunteer get-together. I traveled from there to Kara. The next day from Kara to Bassar, then, yesterday, from Bassar to Lome. Through this i wore the same clothes, because traveling is really dusty this time of year. I could barely make myself touch my shirt long enough this morning to stuff it in the deepest recesses of my backpack.

togo.peacecorps.gov is our new website! actually its been around for awhile but i just found out about the address. you can read the publication that I help edit- Farm to Market, and find out all kinds of other fun stuff about life in Togo on it.

Nighttime in Nampoch is one of my favorite times. Unless I am mad because my laptop battery is dead or that I have to hold a flashlight to read a book or do crosswords. The past couple of nights have been a full, or nearly full, moon. There is usually enough light to see by, to cast shadows, but not enough to see if the thing moving in the weeds is a rope around a goats neck or a snake. A goat with an especially long rope once about gave me a heart attack.Moon shadows are interesting. They outline everything in stark black. They wash out color and reduce the world to shades of gray, which might be more accurate anyway. Moonbeams reflect off dusty tin roofs and give thatch a silver shimmer.

The moonlight washes out most of the stars, but when there is no moon, the universe is laid out like a map in front of your face. I see stars and other stuff that I never knew you could see, like the International Space Station. One night I watched that soar over my head in a perfectly straight line. The other night I saw an ugly shooting star that burned up in two thick contrails, sort of like what I would imagine comes out of a dragon's snout, only in reverse.

Sometimes I sit out under the magic reseau mango tree and listen. I hear the distant thuds of girls pounding yams or maybe pepper in big wooden pestle as they make supper. There is always at least one dog yapping somewhere, and the sound of distant poultry in distress. Perceived or real, it all sounds the same. Children bawl. Last night I heard one kid off in the brush who screamed with all the rage in the world. There is the staticy hum of radio broadcasts from neighboring houses, or from my own. Music and world news 6 miles in the countryside. It is life in an audio clip.

hi stephen

Last monday, I had a goodbye party for Karen in Nampoch. Abby, Jen, Brandon, and Dani came. All my friends from village where there too. It was a lot of fun. We did a fetish ceremony to protect us against snakebite, and to ask for good luck for Karen. Then we went back to my house to hang out. Karen brought her guitar, so we sang songs while she played it. "One tin soldier," "Wagon Wheel," "Blowin' in the Wind," "Circle Game," "Hallelujah," that one song that goes "the lion sleeps tonight" in french, etc. We were surrounded by Togolese. Eventually we sang our respective national anthems. Later on, we ate a big dinner. Then someone brought a boom box and a stack of cassettes and we had an impromptu dance party. There must have been 60 kids in my compound, plus a lot of other people. We danced until midnight. It was amazing. It was one of the best nights I've had here. I like parties that take on a life of their own.

Write 200 words coming up with a new holiday: what does the holiday celebrate? When is it? Does the holiday have any fun tradition (like wearing green on St. Patrick´s Day or giving out cards and chocolate on Valentine´s Day)?

its been awhile since i've updated my blog. i haven't felt like writing.

i am sitting on karen's porch. she is playing guitar and singing. Jen is reading a Joe Abercrombie novel. i am blogging.

i just got a togocell USB modem that makes this possible. it is really cool cause it connects over the cellular network. too bad i dont any togocell reseau in village. or electricity.

karen made some kind of soup today with butternut squash and carrots from my garden. it was delicious. i think it was like cream of butternut squash soup or something like that.

i also ate iguana, or some other comparable large lizard today. it tasted like a cross between pork and chicken. togolese love it.

i woke up one morning last week and staggered out of my my bedroom in my usual morning fog. i had to dance around the pieces of a bat that nigarmi left in the middle of my floor. he looked at me and went "meow."

the next morning i got outside before i saw anything weird. then it was little David beating a knife blade against a metal basin and cooing. until he saw me and started screaming.

Last week was post visit week. this is when new trainees leave training, or stage, and go spend a week at their new posts. This was kind of a bittersweet week. it's always really fun, if somewhat nerve wracking, to meet new people. but this means that karen has about 3 weeks before she leaves. Her replacement seems pretty cool. we had a post-visit party on friday night for the new people in west Kara. then, on saturday, we had a big party in Kara for all the new people in our region. it was a fun weekend.

Saturday was also really cool because the Guerin-Kouka girls football team went to play the Kara girls football team. Karen and i went to watch the match before the post-visit party. Kouka tied Kara 1-1! Kara scored in the first half, then Kouka scored the equalizer on what was easily the prettiest goal i've seen in girls football here. Kouka's goalie had several spectacular saves too. It was really awesome because Kouka is out in the sticks of west Kara; they were easily the underdogs. The fact that they could come in and tie Kara is pretty cool and goes a long way to promoting girls football in the region.

it was cool enough that i forgave Kouka for beating Nampoch 1-0 on Wednesday in their warm-up match.

the weather here is changing. i noticed it when i got back up from Atakpame a couple weeks ago. the rains have stopped for the most part, to the detriment of my garden. there is a haze in the sky during the day now; everything looks dustier. it gets cold(er) at nights. the plants have that spicy smell they get when they are about done growing. everything is dustier now that the rains have stopped. harmattan is coming . . . and then hot season.